“Younger Days”

The music of my youth was country, then came metal. This was a product of where I grew up, a basic transition for a teenager living in a farming town, Population 925. I mention it because I noticed the Durham, NC, country band Mount Moriah last year when I discovered their guitarist was Jenks Miller, the guy who fronts the blackened Americana group Horseback. His metal project has always felt aligned to the south and small town life, so the fact that he was in this country group made sense. Besides, over the past few years, we've seen more affiliations between American black metal and various sorts of "rural music."

On first listen, Mount Moriah, fronted by Heather McEntire (ex-Bellafea), made me think of what Dolly Parton could be doing if she was in her 20s with a background in punk and the culture around it. You didn't get a punk sound; it was a sensibility. McEntire and Miller also just write great, classic-sounding songs about love, loss, sex, flannel, coffee, and home-- things country does well. That 2011 self-titled debut remains a fixture of my at-home listening.

On February 26, Mount Moriah are releasing their followup, Miracle Temple, on Merge. (Because of Miller's background, it's fun assuming the burning barn on the cover's a reference to Burzum's Aske.) The 12-song collection features a bigger sound with more guitars, organs, and voices backing McEntire, including Indigo Girls' Amy Ray. Here's opener, "Younger Days".